The hardest-working woman in show biz

Call it the year of Alyssa Limperis. 

The Seekonk native might’ve first landed on your radar during the pandemic as a comedian nailing New England culture. 

I quickly became a fan of her Mom skits, loving send-ups of her Rhode Island mom, which most any adult with a New England parent can appreciate.

“You want your dance costumes? … You still want ‘Aladdin’? … Here’s some face wash … I gotta get that deck painted … Can we go through some of your stuff? I’d love to get rid of some of it.”

Her stand-up is also heavy on New England life. After her father Jim died of terminal brain cancer at age 59 in 2015, a long road of writing and processing grief led to her 2022 Peacock special, “No Bad Days.”

She’s since starred in more than 20 projects, including FX’s “What We Do in Shadows,” Showtime’s “Dexter: Original Sin,” and voicing a New England character on this season of “American Dad.”

But she’s cemented herself as an indie short queen — and her star is on the rise.

“Homebodies,” which won Best Comedy at LA Under the Stars 2026, screens at another fest this month, while “In Spite of Ourselves” releases in October in New York, Portland, and LA. 

“Going Home,” co-starring Patton Oswalt, fittingly, screened at the Rhode Island Film Fest in August — along with a slew of other fests this summer. “Bless You” premiered at LA Shorts the same month. “Ranch” was a recent Vimeo Staff pick.

I could go on.

In the meantime, catch her soon in Amazon MGM Studios feature adaptation of Sarah Hogle’s novel, “You Deserve Each Other,” alongside Justin Long, Meghann Fahy, and Penn Badgley. 

The La Salle Academy alum recently starred on this season of “Hacks” in the role of Ava’s (Hannah Einbinder’s) old pal from Massachusetts, Jenny. Her reputation as Hilarious New England Woman clearly precedes her — the role was written for her. The fifth and final season of the acclaimed HBO series is up for a record-breaking 24 Emmys on Monday night.

While she won’t be at the Emmy Awards ceremony, she did get to go to a pre-Emmys party. And she tells me she’s now working on a Rhode Island-based sitcom with Rhode Island native Jake Cornell; the project is in development. 

In the meantime, her commercial work is constant. You may have spotted the New Englander as the Pats fan on a Roku ad, or a classic Boston character for Sam Adams, among others.

“Hey, we got that Massachusetts blood. You think I’m gonna sit around? Come on, we got things to do! That’s part of that Massachusetts grit,” Limperis, 36, quips in our recent phone interview from her LA home. “My dad said it takes a hundred no’s to get to a yes, so I operate the same way.”

I called the hardest-working woman in show biz to talk about life on the Mass./R.I. border, “Hacks,” new short films, upcoming projects, her Peacock special, red pizza strips, Del’s, and more.

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Boston.com: I feel like you’re blowing up right now. Looking at your IMDB, it’s like: Wait what.

Alyssa Limperis: [laughs] Thank you. With film and TV, it just takes so long. A lot of stuff that’s coming out now, I shot a year or two ago. But, yeah, it does feel like I’m in this time where a lot of projects that I worked on are coming to fruition.

Just for one place to start: “Hacks” must’ve been amazing. You got to be a part of the record-breaking Emmy season. 

“Hacks” was the time of my life. It was such a treat to do the thing I love to do on a hilarious Emmy-winning show — and also to do the thing that I started my career on, which is representing my Massachusetts side.

Right, you played Hannah’s friend from home. I love all the Mass. ties on that show. Hannah’s character, Ava, is from Waltham. Two creators of the show are from Mass.: Jen Statsky is from Milton; Lucia Aniello is from western Mass. I know you said it’s mostly all scripted, but did you get to improvise?

Yes. So I’m very grateful to Paul [W. Downs], Lucia, and Jen. They’re unbelievable. It’s the funniest show. They wrote the part for me, brought me in, gave me great direction — but also let me do my thing. 

We’d do a take, then they’d say, “OK, do an Alyssa Limperis take,” and let me cook. There’s no better feeling as an actor and an improviser. When that happens, they’re probably not going to use much, but maybe one little thing gets in there. 

The truth is, the script was so funny. I got that script in my inbox, and it was like candy. Such a treat.

I bet. What was it like working with Meg Stalter? She’s brilliant.

Meg and I had the time of our lives. There’s this scene where we’re watching Jesse McCartney play. We’re barely in it, but we were improvising the whole time, making each other laugh. I don’t even know if we had mics on. That’s what that whole set felt like — everyone was just so funny, and doing the thing they do so well.

Meanwhile, you have so many films on the fest circuit. Tell me about a few. 

“Homebodies” is about a postmodern world where you have to pay to go outside. I play a girl who’s just trying to have some alone time because she lives with her boyfriend, but it’s too expensive to leave the house.

Woah, that sounds like a “Black Mirror” episode.

Totally. Then “Going Home” is a short I wrote, co-directed and starred in with Patton Oswalt. That’s about a girl who goes to visit her parents at her childhood home after a really bad day. 

So I grew up in Mass., in the same house my whole life. My grandpa lived with us and died in that house. My dad died in that house. When my mom moved out, there were a lot of feelings — it was the final goodbye to my dad, in a way. This film explores those themes. 

I want to go back here to talk about your roots. You grew up in Seekonk. I’m from Rhode Island, so I consider you basically from Rhode Island. 

Thank you! Exactly! It’s hard to describe, but that’s what I tell people.

Right. Swansea and Seekonk are essentially —

It’s Rhode Island! 

[laughs] Exactly. 

I went to elementary school in Rumford, R.I. I went to middle and high school in Providence. My whole life was in Rhode Island. 

You’re famous for nailing the Mass. accent — but I also hear Rhode Island in your mom videos. 

Totally. My mom is from Cranston. My dad’s side is from Lowell. I grew up with both accents, and they’re similar, but Rhode Island [breaks into accent] is a bit more gruff, it’s more down heah. [Switches slightly] Then Bawston lives a little bit more up heah. 

Growing up, did you always want to go into comedy? What were you like as a kid?

My dad was a sheet metal salesman, and very funny. Came from a working-class family. I think, given the opportunity, he would’ve been a creative. Instead, he poured all of that [creativity] into his life, and I got to be a part of that. We did community theater. We did pranks. I’d film VHS impressions of my mom. I was constantly exposed to comedy — “The Three Stooges,” “Seinfeld,” ”I Love Lucy.” The internet wasn’t as prolific, so I didn’t know comedy could be a career. 

You went to Middlebury College in Vermont (‘12) and studied psychology.

I remember giving my graduation speech, and it felt like doing stand-up. I thought: “Man, I just love this.” After college, I got a job in finance. I made good money, but there was a screaming from my gut: “This is not it.”

I quit after a year. I was lucky that the finance job gave me savings — allowed me to struggle in those early stages of being an artist. But I’ll tell you what: it wasn’t an easy choice to quit. I was freaking terrified. It felt like I was jumping into lava. It was so scary.

I bet.

I have this strong memory after I quit. It was my first day waitressing. I left work on my bike, riding uptown to an open mic and I felt this absolute lightness. I was so far from where I wanted to be — but I knew I was on the right road.

In finance, I felt I was moving forward on the wrong road. It was eating at me. The peace I felt on that bike ride has never gone away. 

I love that. So a major turning point was your dad’s death in 2015. You talked about that candidly in your 2022 Peacock special, “No Bad Days.”

I was figuring out my voice at open mics in New York — then my dad got sick and I moved home to Massachusetts to be with him as he left this earth. That changed everything. A lot of the stuff I was doing on stage didn’t feel right anymore. I knew if I was going to do stand-up, I had to talk about what I just went through. My emotions were leaking out.

My impulse was to blog about it, talk about it, do whatever I could. It was overflowing. Looking back, I can see: “Oh she was hurting, and this was just lots of attempts at screaming.” But that’s what art is for. 

True.

Those blogs landed me a job at Conde Nast as a copywriter, where I met Emily Murnane and Andrew Daugherty, who are now my co-producers at T43 Films. I started learning how to do characters, which led to my mom videos. My videos gained traction; I ended up getting representation in LA. I moved to LA, and from that moment on I was full-time acting. I started doing a solo show about my dad, which ended up being “No Bad Days.” 

I found you through your mom videos — they feel so accurate. What does your mom think of those? 

She loves them. She actually films the majority of them. They’re obviously a heightened version of her, so we’re in it together. But then there are things she’ll say where I’m like, “Yeah, that’s going in.” [laughs] She’ll call me in LA and go “Put my numbah in at CVS, I got $4 dahlahs off.” I’m like, “Yeah, OK, Mom.” Then I’m at CVS, and I’m putting her damn number in to get the $4 dallahs off!

[laughs] Classic.

She lived with me in New York for a bit after my dad died. It’s almost like she’s normal in Massachusetts, but when I took her out of Massachusetts and brought her to New York, it was like: Oh my God.  So the videos were born from that. They ended up becoming this joyful thing for us in the midst of this painful time.

She lives in Plymouth now. 

Yup, so she’s still in Mass., but you get it — it’s a different side of Mass.!

A world away.

World away! Seekonk to Plymouth? Might as well be across the country!

[laughs] Your dad keeps coming up. Was your Peacock special cathartic? 

Oh my god, extremely. The whole process was extremely cathartic. That’s the trouble with loss and grief— everything just keeps going. But I had to keep unpacking this. The show helped me do that.

This horrible thing happened, and my dad said, “Well, we’ve got today. What are we going to do today?” And that forever changed my life. He didn’t even let death get to him. Every day we get is another day to live. So I feel I’m doing this for both of us. Everything I do, he’s coming along for the ride.

That’s beautiful. And you said you’re working on a Rhode Island-based sitcom now that you can’t say much about.  But that seems right up your alley.

I love to write about where I’m from. Everything I write always finds its way back there. I think everyone in Mass. and R.I. is inherently funny. They’re all comedians. The weather, the harshness of life. We all rib each other. 

When you’re from Massachusetts or Rhode Island, you’re around it all the time. You think: this is what life is. But after living in LA for seven years, I’m like, “Oh yeah, no. My upbringing is unique.”

What strikes you about us when you’re in LA? 

In LA, it’s always nice outside, and everyone’s so kind. 

[laughs] A strange land.

[laughs] When I think of how I grew up, it’s so loud, and there’s no boundaries. The weather is so harsh that you automatically have something you’re bonding over with everyone around you.

The New England winter trauma-bond. 

[laughs] We earn summer. When you drink that Del’s on that beach, it’s like, we f—ing worked for this!

[laughs] Exactly. What are your favorite spots to visit when you’re back here?

Ok, so this is my dream day. I go to Seven Stars Bakery — my preferred one is Rumford, but I’ll go to any one. I get a coffee, scone, probably a cinnamon bun. Then I’m going to Wildflour [in Pawtucket]. Have you been? 

I haven’t, but I know that’s a big vegan spot,

I love everything there — I’m like 90 percent vegan. I end the night at The Big Cheese, which is ironic as a vegan, but you can get a spinach pie, no cheese, with olives and red peppers. And I’d have to get pizza strips. 

That’s another very Rhode Island/Mass. border food we all grew up with and didn’t realize was unique: red pizza strips.

Exactly! I think in my final chapter, when all is said and done with my comedy career, I’d love to open a Rhode Island restaurant in LA. Pizza strips and Del’s.

Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1.

Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist. As a regular contributor to Boston.com, she interviews A-list musicians, actors, authors and other major artists.

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